Free Web NovelChapter 86: Chapter 86
"Dron, tell me what you need me to do." Tempest fidgeted next to the edge of the large tub.
Dron looked as if he were seconds away from passing out. She didn’t know if she was going to have to jump in there to keep him from drowning. She was told the Life Nectar could fix anything, but it wasn’t working. Dron wasn’t getting better and every second that passed Tempest panicked more and more.
"I don’t... I don’t know." Dron groaned and his eyes rolled back.
"Hey! Don’t do that. Please." Tempest begged. Here she thought when they got him home everything would be all better.
Just as she was about to get into the tub with Dron, the lights flickered in the house letting her know that someone was at the door.
This wasnt the time for visitors but maybe it was just what they needed. Tempest didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know who she could call on to help her with Dron. She hoped whoever was at the door would be able to help.
"Hold on. Just hold on Dron." Tempest patted Dron’s hand. It was the only thing that she could reach without getting into the tub with him.
She rushed out of the bathroom and toward the door. She grabbed the lever and pulled down hard. The door popped open and Tempest nearly wept in relief.
"Gerax... you have to help. I don’t know what to do. It’s not getting better." Tempest hurried the somewhat shocked man inside.
"What are you talking about."
"Please help!" Tempest started to jog in the direction of the bathroom, still not letting Gerax know what was going on.
Gerax followed behind her and she skidded to a stop in front of the bathroom.
"You want me to help you in the bathroom? I don’t..." Gerax words cut off before he could finish his words. "Oh...god." Gerax rushed into the bathroom.
"Can you fix it? I don’t know what to do."
"I don’t understand. Why isn’t the life nectar working." Gerax moves in a little more. Walking around to the back of the bath, Gerax slightly applies some pressure to the wound. Instantly, Dron cried out and his entire body shook even though the life nectar was warm.
"He looks bad." Tempest bit the corner of her lip. She felt so useless.
"How did this happen?’ Gerax looked up at her expecting her to give him an answer.
An answer that she didn’t have. All she knew was when he got on the transport, Dron looked like he was minutes away from death.
That hadn’t changed since he got in the tub.
"I don’t know. Just fix it Gerax." She pulled at her hair.
"Poision. It has to be poison." Dron gritted out from between his teeth.
"Yes, I agree." Gerax nodded his head before he looked back at Tempest. "I’m going to have to manually remove the parts of his body that are affected."
Tempest nodded. "Okay, so do it."
Gerax grimaced a little, "You’re going to want to leave for this."
"What? Why?" Tempest couldn’t understand why she would have to leave the room. She wanted to be here for Dron. Wanted to hold his hand through whatever procedure he was about to have. It was the right thing to do.
"It’s...going to hurt." Dron answered and tried to smile at Tempest but there wasn’t much effort. He was fading fast in front of her. She felt the tears burning the back of her eyelids. She didn’t want to leave him but she would wait in the main room if she had to.
"Okay. Just save him. Do what you have to do to save him." She smiled at Dron again and turned to walk out of the room.
Tempest walked quickly out of the room, she let the door close behind her. It wasn’t but a second later that she heard the first scream.
Not just a normal yell of pain but one of pure unfiltered agony. She’d never heard anyone, let alone Dron make that noise.
"Dron! Oh god! I’m coming" She tried to get back in the room but somehow the door wouldn’t unlock. Dron must’ve made it so she couldn’t get back in.
"No! Stay! Don’t..." Dron started but ws aburptly cut off by another loud scream of pain.
"What are you doing to him? Stop it!" Tempest banged on the door trying to get in. Trying to stop whatever it was that Gerax was doing to him.
"I have to do this. It’s the only way he’ll survive." Gerax screamed through the door. It sounded like he was having a hard time with whatever he was doing in there.
Tempest stood frozen outside the bathroom door while Dron’s screams echoed through the house. Every cry of pain seemed louder than the last. She pressed her palms against the door and fought the urge to force her way inside. Gerax said it was the only way to save him. Dron had begged her to stay out. None of that made listening to him suffer any easier.
Minutes dragged by. Eventually the screams became less frequent. Then there was only silence.
The quiet terrified her more than the screaming ever had.
Just as she was preparing to break the door down herself, the lock disengaged with a click. Tempest rushed forward. Gerax stepped out of the bathroom looking exhausted. His hair was damp with sweat and his face had gone pale.
"Dron?" Tempest asked immediately.
"He’s alive." Gerax exhaled heavily.
Relief nearly buckled her knees.
She pushed past him and hurried into the bathroom. Dron was still in the Life Nectar, his eyes closed and his body completely limp against the edge of the tub. For one horrible second she thought he was dead. Then she saw his chest rise.
"Dron." She reached for him and brushed wet strands of hair away from his forehead.
"He won’t wake up for a while." Gerax moved beside her. "The procedure took a lot out of him."
"What happened?" Tempest asked.
"The poison had spread further than I thought." Gerax frowned. "The Life Nectar couldn’t repair the damage because the toxin kept destroying the tissue. I had to remove every contaminated section before the nectar could begin healing him."
Tempest swallowed hard.
"But he’ll be okay?"
"He should recover."
The answer did little to ease the knot in her stomach.
Gerax continued staring at the wound. "What concerns me more is the poison itself."
Tempest looked up at him.
"What do you mean?"
Gerax folded his arms. "I’ve never seen anything like it before."
The statement immediately caught her attention.
"Never?"
"No. It shouldn’t exist."
Tempest stared at him.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I’ve spent years studying toxins. Military compounds. Biological agents. Venoms. Every dangerous substance known on Ustea." Gerax shook his head. "I’ve never encountered anything remotely similar to what was inside Dron."
A chill worked its way down Tempest’s spine.
"So someone created it?"
"I don’t know." Gerax sighed. "But I’m taking samples back with me. I’m going to do some research. If a poison like this exists then I need to know where it came from."
The idea that someone had intentionally created something capable of killing Dron made Tempest feel sick.
Together they lifted Dron from the bath and carried him into the bedroom. He never woke. Never even opened his eyes. By the time they settled him beneath the blankets, he looked completely drained.
Gerax checked him one final time before heading toward the front door.
"He’ll sleep for several hours. Just let him rest."
Tempest nodded. "Thank you."
Gerax offered a tired smile before leaving the house.
The moment the door shut behind him, the house felt far too quiet.
Tempest returned to the bedroom and sat beside Dron. She reached for his hand and wrapped both of hers around it. His skin was warm. Alive. freeweɓnøvel.com
She stared at him for several moments.
"You scared me." Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
Dron didn’t respond.
Of course he didn’t.
He was unconscious.
Tempest laughed softly despite the tears filling her eyes.
"You always do this. You never think about yourself. You just throw yourself into danger and expect everything to work out."
She brushed her thumb across the back of his hand.
"I thought I lost you."
The confession slipped out before she could stop it.
For a long moment she simply watched him sleep.
Then the words she’d been holding back for so long finally escaped.
"I love you."
Her throat tightened.
"I love you, Dron."
The room remained silent.
There was no embarrassment. No fear. No possibility of rejection.
He couldn’t hear her.
At least that’s what she told herself.
"I didn’t mean for it to happen." Tempest shook her head. "I fought it. I really did."
Every moment she’d spent with him had only made it worse.
The way he cared for her.
Protected her.
Looked at her as though she mattered.
"I want to stay here with you."
Fresh tears slid down her cheeks.
"I don’t want to leave."
The admission hurt more than anything.
Because it was true.
She wanted to stay.
Wanted to build a life with him.
Wanted to wake up beside him every morning.
But every time she allowed herself to imagine that future, something terrible happened.
People hated him because of her.
Targeted him because of her.
Now someone had nearly killed him because of her.
"If I stay, things are only going to get worse for you."
Tempest lowered her gaze to their joined hands.
"And I can’t do that to you."
The tears fell freely now.
"You deserve better than this."
Better than her.
Better than the constant danger surrounding her existence on Ustea.
She leaned forward slowly and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
The contact was brief.
Tender.
Filled with every feeling she’d been too afraid to admit.
When she pulled back, she rested her forehead against his for a moment.
"I love you."
One final whisper.
Then she carefully slipped beneath the blankets beside him. Dron remained completely still. She curled against his side and rested her head on his shoulder.
Hopefully when he woke up he would feel better.
Hopefully they could finally move forward.
And then they could finish making plans to get her back to Earth.
Even if the thought shattered her heart.
